Malacañang prods Senate on extra powers measure

MalacaÑang wants the Senate to come up with a solution to an impending power shortage at the soonest time possible.

Palace spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on Friday said the House of Representatives and the Senate should “marry” their respective proposals to address the potential power outage next year.

“The important thing is we should be able to come up with the solution to address the situation in 2015,” Lacierda told reporters in a news conference.

“Hopefully, everything and everyone will be able to be onboard, will be in sync to address the power situation,” he said.

Lacierda made the statement after some senators questioned approval of House Joint Resolution 21, which seeks to give the authority to the President “to establish additional power generating capacity to ensure the energy requirements of the country during periods of very tight energy supply” projected to be experienced in the Luzon grid from March to July 2015.

Under the resolution, the additional generating capacity would be sourced from the “Interruptible Load Program (ILP), fast-tracking of new committed projects, and plants for inter-connection and rehabilitation.”

“Again, the most expensive power is no power. If there is no power, it affects the economy, it affects the convenience of the consumers. What we are trying to do is come up with the solution with the safeguards in mind. I am certain that safeguards will be provided to make sure that we are able to address the power situation in 2015,” Lacierda said.

“So all these are all speculations on the part of those people, but certainly, government is mindful of how to address the situation and how to best safeguard and ensure that it will redound to the benefit of the Filipino people,” he added.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña 3rd had said there is no need for the President to have emergency powers to address the looming energy crisis because “everything seems to be in place.”

“The ILP . . . is already in place in Cebu and Davao since 2010 . . . we did not ask for special powers, we did not ask for money. It is automatic and it works very well,” Osmena, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, told reporters in an interview on Thursday.

“So I really have to study what the House has passed in order to be able to explain to them why certain things that they may have inadvertently placed in the resolution are not really necessary for the ILP to be a success,” the senator said.

Under the ILP, an instrument to help ease the anticipated power supply shortage, commercial establishments such as malls and factories can be asked to use their generator sets when supply of electricity is not enough to answer energy demands.